Shine on Me

I love staying in the masjid (both the haramain until slightly above shuruq timee. There are usually less people in the mosque.

So I was there, in masjid nabawi, like the other mornings and decided to solatul Ishraq or Solatud Dhuha. And I was standing there praying, feeling I am having all the place to myself. No one is waiting for me. No one rushes me for breakfast. I can take my time.

(Supposedly deep in my prayers), I can suddenly feel light surrounding me. And slight cool breeze coming from everywhere enveloping me. I can feel the ruffle of my khimar.

I felt tremendously blessed.



Only to find out later that the ray of light and the cool breeze was because they opened up the dome letting fresh air into the masjid.

Sekali sekala perasan apa salahnya.

I don't have picture of the sliding dome because the female guards would usually check the female's bags for camera. I know some ladies sneaked in the camera but somehow I don't feel like risking it.


A youtube of the dome sliding. It is really quiet actually. I think the noise in the video is from the people not the mechanical gears of the dome.

Shampoo My Hair

You know it usually takes ages to make the kids, especially Jack, to go and have his shower on a non-school day. And when he finally gets into the shower, he would take ages to come out of it.

And he has many excuses as well. Tak sabun lagilah. I helped clean the tublah. I am shampooing my hairlah. Dozens.

It was the same when were in Makkah. We all cramped in one hotel room. And there was only one toilet. And he always take ages to come out.

So I pestered him to come out QUICK! Because it seems in makkah the time in between prayers is very short. I, for one, needs to go to Haram the latest one hour before adzan because I like to reserve a good place. I hate being late and having to cramp to make solah.

So, anyway, I pestered him quick quick! And he said, "But I am shampooing my hair!!"

Huh?








But Jack, you are bald!

Jack Goes Bald

Masya Allah, Jack did his first umrah ever. Initially we wanted to forego it because we know we will be arriving late and most likely we will only be doing it after isya' which can carry on till midnight. Lover was particularly lazy about it since he would be the one to take Jack anyway.

We, including Jack who was more like terpaksa, decided to do it anyway. Funnylah JAck ni. He was always like err malasnya, but in the end he was the most zealous one. When he recited the talbiyah, he was the loudest one. The fastest one. When he ran raml around the kaabah and at the saei, he was the most excited one. Walhalnya yang tua-tua ni masa saei dah kepenatan.

And Masya Allah Jack went for the bald look too. May Allah have mercy on him.

He didn't mind so much when he was there and practically everyone was doing the same thing. But he did mind when many strangers like to touch his head. Many of them made dua' while doing so.

Today is his first day of school. Since last night he was a bit apprehensive of his baldness. The thought of going to school bald in this state and meeting his friends worry him a bit.

We encouraged him to be proud instead because Allah is giving him more mercy. This is far more important than what people think of him.

From Abu Hurayrah, Prophet sallahu alaihi wasalam said, "Indeed Allah does not look at how your appearance is but rather at your deeds."

And plus he won't be alone. Abang is bald. Some of his friends (not in the same class though) are bald too.

And my my my you look cuuuuutttteee, MAsya Allah. Ibu is proud of you.

I know that they would have their own freewill when they get older and will be making their own choices on things he want to do or not. I ask Allah that they live their live in fear of Him and abiding the quran and sunnah. And the dua' goes to all of us too.

Driving in Makkah

Alhamdulillah I am back from umrah. Alhamdulillah Allah has made it easy for us. We went on our own and relative to the last trip, my lover was more relax. This time, since we are our own master, we stopped whenever we are sleepy and took our time to rest and drove at our own speed. And since no one was with us, no one will know our argument on routes to choose during the trip.

If on our last trip we depended on someone to take us to the hotel, this time we booked our accommodation and basically had ourselves, with the help of Allah, to get us around. GPS somewhat help. We booked the hotel nearest to the Haram which turned out quite horrendous to reach by car.

First of all we use the coordinate given by the GPS for the hotel. The thing is we reached Makkah nearing to solat time, where most of the important roads are closed and the GPS kept having to recalculate. And makkah is a city of underground tunnels. The GPS would lose its signal and by the time it receives the signal back, we have lost perhaps a few good junctions. And it is just not possible to stop. Everything is going too fast.

So we drove to what the GPS suggested but funnily it seems we are getting further away from the big landmark which is the clock itself. After a whole lot of recalculating, turn right bear left and make sharp turn, we found our suggested destination to be an old hotel bearing the same name. I am not sure whether I should laugh or keep quiet because lover was really not amused by it. HAHAHAHAHAH.

Anyway, now that we will drive without knowing where to go, I scrambled through the GPS list of hotels and picked what I think is the nearest one. I forced lover to stop and asked the police who were aplenty guarding the closed roads. perhaps it was my little arabic and the boys in their ihram, we found the police very helpful. Or maybe because I thought they would bark at us in the first place.

Finally we found the hotel entrance which was located underground. Subhanallah. To top it, they wanted to charge an exorbitant price for the parking there. So we checked in. Settled the kids. reminded them that they are in ihram. Ordered room service and went out to look for possible parking place in the city of Makkah.

We saw many cars parking under bridges, on the kerb and selit sana sini. But we did not want troubles such as being towed or fined. Finally we found an open space where seemingly safe and many cars are there too. Tawakal alallah.



We found the car safe after four days parked there. Alhamdulillah.

When we went back to get our car, we had a better idea of the road orientation in Makkah. At least the roads that we had to take. I have keyed in more parking spots for future rendezvous.

I suppose I do not mind much getting lot on the road. We usually learn teh road better after, Insya Allah.

Alhamdulillah that despite all the havoc, everything else went smoothly. Even smoother than the bald headed boys'head in my house.

Recharging Battery

Insya Allah we will be going for umrah this coming Thursday. We will be driving there Insya Allah. This time round we are planning to take a different route than the one we took back in 2009.

We will be driving enroute Madinah driving for perhaps 13 hours from Doha and stopping at Buraydah. And continue the journey the following day to Madinah.

On Sunday we will be assuming our miqat and drive towards Makkah. Pray that it will be easy for us to find a parking space there. Watching the TV, there is a sea of people making tawaf by now. Allah Mustaan. May Allah make it easy for us.

We will be leaving Makkah on Wednesday and will drive to Riyadh for rest cum socialising with friends and will be leaving back to Doha on Thursday Insya Allah.

Please pray for our smooth and safe journey.

I leave you in the care of Allah for those in His care will never be lost.